In Doncaster, police executed a warrant at an address in Church Street, Stainforth – with the support from the Doncaster Tasking Team and the National Wildlife Crime Unit – granted under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, following posts on Facebook relating to badger baiting.

Rifles which were seized in Doncaster

At the property, they located items which featured in the posts, but also discovered four cannabis plants in the loft, and that the electricity metre had been bypassed.

Whilst in Tickhill, a man was reported on summons by the off road team, for possessing a knife and an ecstasy tablet and two loaded rifles were handed over for destruction by men who were caught carrying out pest control.

Results in Sheffield included one person who was reported for possession of cannabis, after being found taking an off-road driving tour of Houndkirk Moor.

An off-road vehicle during a stop and search in Thurcroft, Rotherham

And in Rotherham, two vehicles were recovered with no insurance, one of which was being driven by a man with no licence who also had equipment in the boot of the car which could be used to syphon diesel.

Across Barnsley, officers spoke to over a dozen landowners who had experienced recent poaching and theft, in an effort to reassure them and further foot patrols were carried out at farms who had previous problems with theft of diesel from farm machinery.

Checks were also carried out on eight badger sets within Penistone and Wombwell Woods where badgers are known to be present.

And, whilst carrying out another search, police seized a screwdriver from a man, who had previous for burglary.

Assistant Chief Constable David Hartley, force lead for local policing and rural crime said he was proud of what the force were able to achieve during Operation Dunlin, thanking staff and their partner agencies for their efforts.